As if moving underwater, Briar simulated how the blow would throw her backwards. Now Meena attacked, stepping forward as Briar stumbled back. She grabbed Briar’s shirtfront, pretending to pull her forward by a tie or a shirt collar. Once Briar’s upper body bent forward, Meena raised her knee. Had they been moving in real time, she would have slammed the top of her knee into Briar’s nose.
“And that,” Briar said as she whirled to face Ada, “would be that.”
“Fascinating!” Ada pressed her hands to her chest. “But you’ve been studying for years, the both of you.”
“True,” Briar said. “You could join us. There’s the most delightful group of forward-thinking women at Master Tadeoka’s studio. It’s growing rapidly, isn’t it Meena?”
Meena was studying Ada. “Briar’s right. You should consider it. You’d fit in wonderfully.”
How delightful that sounded. New friends. New skills to acquire.
Whether she and Edison continued their liaison or not, she supposed she was free to socialize with Briar and Meena as she chose. Lord knew the increased activity would be a good thing. Muscles she wasn’t even aware she owned still ached from her recent tumbles with the strong inventor.
Meena stepped aside. “Now you try it.”
Briar cupped Ada’s shoulders, moving her into position, with her back to the room. “Let’s begin with the parasol.” She pressed Meena’s weapon into her hand. “Imagine you’re trying to decide whether to pop into a hat shop to try on that little pink bonnet in the window. And remember, quick, decisive action.”
Ada gripped the curved handle of the substantial parasol. “But I don’t want to hurt you. What if I—?”
“Don’t worry,” Meena waved away her concern. “Briar’s too skilled to let you hurt her.”
Ada turned back to face the wall and tried to pretend she was engrossed in the offerings of an imaginary shop.
“All right,” Briar warned, “here I come.”
Even though she knew it was Briar’s arm snaking over her shoulder, Ada gasped. Instead of ducking toward her assailant and slipping out from under her as Meena had, she pulled away, in the opposite direction.
Briar followed her movements, leaning into her as she moved, pushing her further off-balance.
Before Ada toppled into the credenza, Briar pulled her back. “Well done!”
When Ada turned around, the girl was grinning. “That is precisely how one would normally react.” She smoothed the wrinkles bunched up over Ada’s shoulders. “That’s just what a criminal counts on. Instinct drives you to pull away, allowing him to push you down. Then he can grab whatever he wishes while you struggle to regain your footing. The thief would be off with your handbag and jewelry before you’d found the breath to yell.”
“But I knew you were coming.” Ada shook her head. “I knew you were coming and still I reacted badly. I can’t imagine what I’d do in a real scenario.”
“Exactly!” Briar seemed to applaud her lack of skill. “That’s why we spend hours in the studio. With enough practice, your responses become automatic.” She turned Ada back toward the wall and handed her back the umbrella. “Again.”
*
Wanting to simulate real life as much as practicable in her friends’ hallway, Ada squared her shoulders and tried to clear her mind. She imagined she was ogling a display of Venetian glass beakers at Gorton’s Chemical Supply.
She shifted from foot to foot, passing the handle of the parasol from hand to hand. It was no use. The back of her neck prickled with tension, and her ears strained for the slightest rustle of fabric that would signal Briar was about to pounce.
But the girl moved so quickly, there was no time between the swish of her skirts and the attack. Ada barely had time to tense before a black-clad arm looped over her shoulder. After an initial jerk away, Ada forced herself to lean into Briar’s embrace then slip down beneath her arm. Chin tucked into her chest as she’d seen Meena do, she pushed into Briar’s body, then ducked out underneath her grasp.
But she’d forgotten about the parasol.
Instead of tucking it in against her body and bringing it along, Ada allowed it to dangle out away from her. She managed to squirm out from under Briar’s hold, but before she had a chance to straighten, Briar jerked the weapon from her grasp.
“Better.” Briar handed her back the umbrella.
Ada shrugged modestly. “But I forgot about the brolly.”
“Not to worry,” Meena said. “Practice enough and you’ll be amazed how quickly you begin to react on instinct.”
The casement clock in the study broke through their conversation, signaling the hour with slow, solemn tones. Despite the exciting diversion, the reminder rekindled Ada’s worry. Short of the Waterloo bridge tumbling into the Thames, Henry and Edison should have returned.
Spencer and Nelly appeared from the kitchen, bringing with them the savory aromas of beef stew and yeasty bread. Spencer was drying his hands on a worn square of sack cloth. Although he presented an air of casual indifference, Ada caught the worried glance he sent his wife.
“Nothing?” he asked Meena softly.
She shook her head.
Briar was staring out the window now, arms hugging her waist. “I wonder if we should go after them.”
“We’ve still got Edison’s borrowed hansom,” Nelly pointed out.
Spencer tossed the cloth over his shoulder and pulled his wife into a gentle hug.
The way he cradled her against him—the tenderness in his look—squeezed Ada’s heart. How magnificent to share that kind of love.
Meena leaned into her husband’s embrace. “It has been some time since we’ve had an adventure of any magnitude. I suppose we should—”
Before she could finish, the door at the back of the house flew open.
“Here they are!” Nelly rushed off to greet them.
As quickly as the girl ran off, she returned, her expression grim. “The daft cabbages.” She shook her head slowly, looking more like a wise old woman than a girl barely in her majority. “This isn’t gonna go well.”
Behind her, Henry trudged into the room, face pale, eyes huge in the dimming light.
A portly figure in a white uniform followed.
Ada gasped. The admiral himself.
The man did not look pleased. Holy hell, what had Edison done?
“We’re in for it now,” Spencer muttered.
“Who the blazes are you people?” the admiral commanded.
Even as he emoted, he squinted at the four of them, blinking as he recognized Ada. “Mrs. Templeton? Are you all right? What have these lunatics done to you? Tell me they haven’t hurt you, or I’ll have them strung up so fast—”
“I’m fine. Perfectly fine.” Ada rushed forward to grasp the old man’s hands. She smiled up at him, hoping to reassure him. “These are my friends. They saved me from…”
A sharp stone bloomed in her throat, catching her unawares. She swallowed hard, blinking away a spring of tears that came with it. “Mr. Sweet and his family saved me from a most disagreeable fate.”
She locked gazes with Edison as she spoke. The smile he sent her held far too much wicked promise for the middle of the day, especially surrounded by his family and an irate naval officer.